Te Tai Treaty Settlement Stories

Manatū Taonga Ministry for Culture and Heritage have embarked on a national project – Te Tai Whakaea Treaty Settlement Stories (Te Tai)–to collect, preserve and share the broad and multi-faceted history of Treaty settlements. The project aims to educate and inform people of Treaty settlements and their impact by connecting and engaging them with a diverse range of Treaty settlement stories.

Treaty of Waitangi settlements are unique to Aotearoa New Zealand and are leading to significant changes in our communities throughout the country. They are vital in shaping our identity as a nation and central to the making of modern Aotearoa New Zealand. While much academic research has been undertaken, there is no overarching history that records these significant milestones in our nation’s history. Furthermore there is a need to capture first-hand the experience of key figures involved in early Treaty settlements while they are still here with us.

Publishing pathways

Te Tai offers a digital platform for people to connect and engage with Treaty settlement history. This platform will offer a rich and comprehensive source of new information, including audio-visual oral history interviews, research articles, documentaries, multi-media web stories as well as a range of cross-curricular education resources in both English and Māori.

Education programme

Te Taiprovides a targeted education programme to support kura and schools to explore the broad historical past of Treaty settlements and how this past has shaped our present and will inform our future. The programme aligns with The New Zealand Curriculum and Te Marautanga o Aotearoa.

Te Tiriti o Waitangi

Te Taiacknowledges that Te Tiriti o Waitangi, Treaty of Waitangi sits at the heart of this project. This founding document continues to shape discussions, ideas and opinions about Treaty settlements, and most importantly, New Zealanders’ understanding of our distinctive history. It is hoped that Te Tai will contribute to raising public appreciation and understanding of Treaty settlements today and their importance in our communities tomorrow.

Iwi and hapū are important research partners for this project and will be a rich source of compelling stories. We'll also commission research from leading historians, and our expert staff will collaborate with other ministries, research institutions, wananga and universities.

Through this project we will build on our established reputation for producing authoritative and accessible digital publications such as Te Ara, NZHistory and the 28th Māori Battalion website.